Saturday, April 19, 2014

Left to right; Janet, Terry, Kevin, Carol AnnSally, Bridget Mary Mary, Jim, and LeeMembers of MMOJ community gathered to enjoy a meal after liturgy.

Easter Meditation

"...Joy
is an indescribable thing. As are love; peace; hope. As are fear
and death. As is heaven. Jesus
wraps them all up, in the expanding universe of his heart, in which even the
soldiers who beat him, even Judas who defied him, even those who threw dice for
his clothes, are enfolded. Now, the signs of the presence of God are no
longer limited to the beautiful and the good. Now even death can be a
sign.And
we are invited to expand our own hearts. To grow in imagination. To
see Easter, and to love between all the lines." From"Easter Vision" in Bite of the Apple by Nancy Rockwell.

Jesus Christ is risen. Alleluia! New life is everywhere. ..

The Spirit of God has been poured out upon us...

The Risen Christ is in us, around us , everywhere....

The Risen One is loving, healing, empowering us....

The Risen One is loving, healing, empowering through us...

Jesus wanted us to remember as blessed, broken and given...

So he blessed, broke and gave us the gift of his abiding presence in Eucharist to transform us....

As St. Augustine reminds us we eat the Body of Christ to become the Body of Christ...

The Real Presence is in the sacred elements and in us, the community.

We too are the Real Presence of Christ blessed, broken and given to the world...

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Let us reflect on how are we called "to expand our hearts and to love between the lines, knowing that everything is possible"?

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Vatican-delegation-with-US-cardinals-delayed-church-reform-says-Dublins-archbishop.html..."The delegation which included leading Irish American prelates Cardinal Sean O’Malley and Cardinal Timothy Dolan were sent to Ireland by the Vatican following the publication of the reports in 2009 to establish what went wrong in the Irish church. Dr Martin believes the apostolic visitation delayed real reform. He said: “The visits froze the Irish church at a particular moment and actually, in some ways, delayed reforms in the Irish church. “My comments are not a criticism of those who carried out the visitation, but maybe a criticism of those who planned it..."

"Jews
in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken
over government buildings were told they have to "register" with the Ukrainians
who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Ukrainian
and Israeli media. Jews emerging from a synagogue
say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city's Jews to provide a list of
property they own and pay a registration fee "or else have their citizenship
revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated," reported Ynet News,
Israel's largest news website..."

Bridget Mary's Response:This is chilling news. All of us should stand in solidarity with the Jewish people in response to this outrageous action. The world community must step up and say a loud and clear:"Never again!" Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

Friday, April 18, 2014

"...No doubt some folks will be upset with this. Everything I needed for masses I carried in my pockets as the chaplain’s kit was too big for some operations. I did not wear vestments, since doing so would not be a good idea in a semi-tactical situation when the idea is to blend in and not make oneself a target. We did not have an Entrance Procession or an Offertory Procession. We did not kneel for the Canon, as it was called back then. Also, I did not use latin or celebrate “ad orientem”. I did not ask where the soldiers stood on optional celibacy, ordination of women, contraception, abortion, marriage equality, if their marriage was valid by church law, who was catholic, etc, since it just didn’t matter. All of us on that hill were living our own ministry of “selfless service”. A common thread back then, and in all of my military service, was taking care of each other..."

The liturgy began with a dramatic reading of the Last Supper. See videoclips below by Jim Marsh.Photos are courtesy of Maria Salling.The Twelve apostles were represented by members from both congregations and Bridget Mary played the role of Jesus. Pastor Phil Garrison, Carol Ann Breyer, Rev. Michael Rigdon and Pastor Donna Papenhausen shared the role of narrator. Below are brief clips of our historic Eucharistic celebration. We, the Body of Christ, are living Jesus' vision "that all my be one." All of us are called to love and serve one another. Let us join the cosmic dance of creation to the heartbeat of Divine Love!

..."It's refreshing to see that various clergy are coming to the defence of the ordination of women including Rev. John Shea, an Augustinian, who taught theology in the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College.

In a recently letter written at the start of Lent, the second of two letters he has written to fellow clergy including Cardinal O”Malley of Boston, Shea insists that there has never been a “clear and credible theological explanation for the exclusion of women from the Catholic priesthood.” In fact, he sees the church's teaching that women are not like Jesus as heretical.

Before putting pen to paper, Shea stopped his active ministry as a priest. After writing his first letter, his career as a professor was terminated and he was the recipient of two “canonical warnings” that he would be punished with a “just” penalty for speaking out on this topic.

Meanwhile, a Franciscan Friar, Fr. Jerry Zawada of Wisconsin, has been deprived of his priestly faculties for concelebrating Mass with a woman priest, Mother Janice Sevre-Dusznska, in 2011, just as Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest, was excommunicated and eventually dismissed from his Order for having been part of Dusznska's ordination ceremony in 2008 and for speaking out publicly in favor of women's ordination.

Like Bourgeois and brother priest Jesuit Fr. Bill Brennan who had his priestly ministries removed for participating in a liturgy with Rev. Sevre-Dusznska, Fr. Zawada feels very strongly about the ordination of women. He's very aware that his superiors and the hierarchy don't think he is observing his vow of obedience, but feels he must follow his conscience.

Zawada, who has been a peace activist and hopes to continue to share his life with the poor, is also a proponent of a married clergy. Given that married Anglican priests were recruited and welcomed into the Catholic church when they refused to accept the Church of England's decision to ordain women, many Catholics are left shaking their heads.

Meanwhile, as the Vatican has added “attempted” ordination of women to its list of “grave sins”, Shea, in his letter to fellow clergy, reminds them that for centuries permissibility of slavery was seen as part of the “ordinary infallible teaching” of the church, but is now considered as an “inherent evil” by that same church.

As well, racism and religious intolerance were also part of “the ordinary infallible teaching” of the church, but over a long period of time and immeasurable..."

..."The footwashing scene occurs only in John’s gospel, though Matthew, Mark and Luke also depict the ‘last supper’. By this point, Jesus has gathered a large following, especially among the marginalised and dispossessed, but become a focus for the hostility for much of the religious and political elite...Throughout all the gospels, Jesus constantly overturns expectations of how society is supposed to function and indeed what God is like.In John’s gospel, the day after Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, he is condemned by the secular and religious authorities and crucified. His mother and the disciple Jesus loves in a special way, who lay against his breast during supper, are standing by. He tells them, “Woman, here is your son”, and ”Here is your mother”, after which the disciple takes her into his own home, joined in a family linked through love and faith not birth. And, though society does not greatly value women’s testimony, on the third day it is another woman, Mary of Magdala, who is chosen to be the first witness of the resurrection.The way of love, where food and drink are shared with the physically hungry and God’s own self is offered as spiritual nourishment, is profoundly challenging. Following this path may involve straying far outside one’s comfort zone, even risking one’s life. Yet it leads to hope, and – Christians believe – triumph over death itself."

As our religious communities celebrate Passover and Easter, I wonder how much longer it will take to provide adequate shelter for the homeless in our community.

The Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions teach that we must care for our brothers and sisters in need. We are taught that whatsoever we do to the least among us, that we do to God.

So, during this "holy week," let's examine our consciences and ask ourselves, if God came down to earth as a homeless person today, would God find a home here? Would God be welcome in Sarasota? But wait, God is already here!

A week ago yesterday,along with 150 other people from various faith
traditions,I participated in an interfaith Sederin preparation for this
year's Passover celebration.Rabbi Samuel Weinstein presided at the
eventat Temple Shomer Emunim in Sylvania.We prayed together,listened
to a historical and theological explanationof the ritual and the symbolic
food,sampled the bitter herbs-- maror--and the boiled egg, haroset,
parsley, motzoh...and drank four glasses of wine.We made new friends and
shared our stories.It was the meal that Jesus shared with his
disciplesthe night before he
died._________________________________Four days later, on the night
before Passover,a neo-Nazi charged into a Jewish facilityin Overland
Park, Kansas,a JCC and temple just like the one we had gathered in.His
vicious anti-Semitism took three
lives._________________________________Tonight we Christiansbegin
our annual celebration of the paschal mystery.It's not easy to pull our
focus away from this violence.Yet the Passover continues for our Jewish
brothers and sisters,in spite of the hatred aimed at them.The Triduum
begins for the grieving familiesof the Methodist grandfather and
grandsonand the Catholic mother killed in Overland Park,in spite of the
tragedy visited on them.With them, we assert once againour faith that
God acts in historyand that God's action is good, not
evil._________________________________We Christians see the paschal
mystery--Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again--as a
universal pattern.As Fr. Richard Rohr puts it,"Life will be death,
failure, and absurdity,which can lead to renewal, joy, and beauty.The
pattern is inevitable, universal, and transformative."Jesus reveals and
lives this patternand tells us that we can trust it.The pattern is
everywhere,and Jesus is our model and our guide.Each of us experiences
the same pattern in our own lives.We are born. We live. We die.And we
are reborn to live again.Each of us has lived and re-lived that pattern many
times already.We have started something--schooling, marriage, job,
friendship--and given it our best.And along the way we've failed, fallen
short of the mark,then picked up the pieces and tried again.Our hope, as
it's said, springs eternal.We keep on keeping on.We get up and go
again._________________________________At that interfaith Seder the
pattern of our history,of our human lives and deaths,and of Jesus' life,
death, and resurrection,merged for me.I knew the presence of my
ancestors in faith.I enjoyed the presence of new friends.I felt the
presence at the tableof Jesus the Jewand the risen Christ.It's that
same paschal mystery we celebrate in our three-day ritual,beginning
tonight.It's all one event, a remembering of life and death and
resurrection;it's all one with our own lives and Jesus'
life._________________________________Over the next three days,you
and I will give witness to Jesus' commitmentto live in love and truth,
faithful to God's will,even at the cost of his life.The commitment
transforms him,as it transforms uswhen we ground ourselvesin God's
unconditional loveand Jesus's prophetic example.Tonight we remember and
celebrate in our table fellowshipthe call to serve one another--to wash
one another's feet._________________________________No matter the
challenge,with God's love we rise again,and again.

"Since Easter is upon us I thought I would talk with a priest about the roots of the springtime religious holiday of Easter.

I grew up in a Catholic family and always wanted to discuss the roots of Easter with a priest. I found one who was willing to talk to me. Her name is Diane Dougherty. We went beyond the roots of Easter and discussed the role of women in the Catholic church.

JL: Where are you a priest?DD: I am a priest serving in an LGBTQ church, First Metropolitan Community. I am helping them give form to their children’s ministry and work with members on various actions such as gaining access to same sex marriage throughout Georgia legislature. I also have home masses and advocate for women’s ordination wherever I am called.

JL: How did you become a priest?DD: I have an equivalency of a Masters of Divinity and 37 years of working in a multitude of ministries within parishes and dioceses, which is a requirement for ordination. I completed mentoring and seminary training program provided by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. I was ordained a deacon by Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan in Sarasota, Florida in February, 2011, and a priest in Atlanta at First Metropolitan Church on October 20, 2012.

JL: Were there ever women priests?DD: For the first 1200 years [of the existence of the Catholic Church] women were serving as priests, bishops, deacons and in many areas of the church. If you go to the Cathedral of St. Augustine in Hippo, which is now the Cathedral of Annaba, there is a mosaic that says, “Here lies Guilia Runa priest…” This meant she was on staff as a priest in the 5th Century AD...."

Jennifer Lee is a filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles. She has spent many years working on Hollywood films and used her free time (when she had it!) making her own films. Her latest film, “Feminist: Stories from Women’s Liberation” is being screened in numerous public libraries across the nation during Women’s History Month. Jennifer was recently named Global Ambassador for the Global Media Monitoring Project.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

For many years now at about this time of year I receive your
invitation to attend a Holocaust commemoration. I have never attended, and I
realize you are entitled to know why.

In addition to being a Jew and a Holocaust survivor, for the
past fifty years, I have been a feminist activist in Sarasota and elsewhere. I
abhor the Catholic Church’s medieval positions with regard to women and other
matters of human rights. Your policies against the ordination of women, against
the use of contraception (which is ignored by the vast majority of your
members), and against abortion and your requirement of celibacy for most of your
priests are anathema to me. Your policy involving celibacy goes against
everything we know about man’s nature. It is absolutely ridiculous to require
adult men to be celibate. What these policies have produced, among other
things, is a worldwide epidemic of priests who abuse young children and other
priests who cover such acts up.

I will certainly not be associated with any such church or
diocese. Please, therefore, remove me from your mailing list. At such time as
you give up these antediluvian principles and join the 21st century, you can let
me know, and I will be happy to attend your Holocaust
commemorations.

Best,

Sonia

Sonia Pressman FuentesSpeaker, Author, "Eat First--You Don't Know What
They'll Give You, The Adventures of an Immigrant Family and Their Feminist
Daughter"

Many Catholic contributions to the debate over civil same-sex marriage are too broad or too narrow. Too broad: civil same-sex marriage is sometimes described as parallel to same-sex marriage in the Church. Too narrow: some Catholic contributions to the discussion have centered on reproductive capacity, ignoring Catholicism’s rich tradition which values marriage beyond procreation. Here, I consider Catholic moral tradition on civil law: civil law is approached in light of the common good, expressed in contemporary societies in terms of equal civil rights. Second, I examine magisterial contributions to the public debate, which are framed in terms of a reading of natural law based in the Scriptural interpretation of Pope John Paul II. Such religious arguments may serve as normative for marriage within the Church, but do not reflect Catholic norms for civil law. Finally, I offer reasons Catholics might advocate civil same-sex marriage.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Left to right Jancie Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP and Deacon Paula Hoeffer, RCWP/USAPaula will be ordained a priest in May in Cincinnati. Both are members of Resurrection Community in Cincinnati, Ohio04/09/14

(1 Samuel 16,1b,6-7,10-13a & Luke 7,36-46))

Need I only say the name “Susan Boyle” for you to recall the cheeky
middle-aged plump woman who has on Britain Has Talent. And you may also recall
the smirks and cynical looks from the judges as well as the audience when she
first appeared on stage.

Then, from within, with clarity
and beauty, came the song “I Dreamed a Dream.” Her singing stunned the judges
and audience!

“Pay no attention to appearances” that was God's advice to Samuel in
our first reading, as he was to choose a new leader for the Israelites from
among Jesse's sons.

God is telling us to look beyond
the gift wrap, to the gift within, to the heart, the place where God
dwells in each of us.

In today's Gospel reading, we hear the Pharisees say,

“If this fellow were the Prophet, he would know who this woman is who
is touching him, and what a low reputation she has.”

Well Jesus did know who this woman was. He saw the gift within, he saw
her heart.

I saw something on YouTube called God's Glasses, that illustrated this
way of seeing so well. As a man is leaving his house he is clearly irritated by
the happenings in his life. First

a kid on a skateboard gets in his way,

then the traffic jams,

then someone “steals” his parking space,

then a long line in the coffee shop....

well you get the picture, nothing is going right. Then someone
approaches him and hands him a pair of glasses. When he puts them on, it's as
if he had prayed, “Open my eyes, God, help me to see.”

Because now through the glasses, as he views everyone he encountered
that mourning, they had labels on them which spoke of their heart. Labels like:

grieving her best
friend

or discontent with
life

or fighting
additions

works two jobs to feed her kids

just needs a hug

recently lost his
job

or needs someone
to listen and care

feel worthless.

Remember, God said “Pay no attention to appearances.” Wouldn't
it be astonishing if we all had those glasses?....those glasses of compassion.
Not just for seeing into the heart of casual encounters as this fellow did, but
what about when we are in conflict with,

or judgmental toward those with whom we live, toward our spouse, ... our friends, our family, our coworkers,.
Or even as Jesus said “our enemies.” ….or the patriarchal church.

It's not easy, especially when dealing with difficult people or
situations to see beyond appearances into their heart. It's easier to see them
through our eyes.

We see the hurt they cause us.

We see the wrong they have done us.

We see their actions through the lenses of our own personal experience
and feelings.

Through God's eyes we could see them as a hurting, frightened,lost or
misinformed person.

Through God's eyes we see their woundedness, their confusion, their
fear, their brokenness.

And if we seek wholeheartedly, we could even see their possibilities
instead of their liabilities. Looking beyond appearances takes the focus off of
us and keeps us from taking things personally....looking beyond appearances
into their vulnerable heart, bypassing the wrapping paper to get to the gift.

Those glasses can be transforming not only when looking at people, but
also at life situations. My diagnosis of cancer, a rare gastro-intestinal
tumor, suspicious liver, blood clot , possibly inoperable, was not a pretty
wrapping paper.

But beyond the appearance of this ugly gift wrap I eventually discovered
a valuable gift inside.

The gift of appreciating
the present moment

...the gift of a deeper trust and faith in God

...the gift of accepting and embracing my mortality

..the gift of a joy-filled gratitude love for life, for Ed, my family
and friends, and my community. Yes all of you. I am so grateful for your
prayers, your hugs, your encouragement, your love,....these are gifts to me.They
have lifted me up.

Sometimes I think little people have a way saying the simple truth
without ever realizing it. When I was first diagnosed with cancer, my six year
old grandson came up to me and said, “Congratulations on your cancer, Grandma!”
I didn't know what he meant by that then, or if he even knew, but now I
know, the cancer was a gift!

Now here is the good news... we all own a pair of those glasses!

Jesus said, “I will send my Spirit to be with you always.”

How do we convert initial appearances to transforming gifts? Symptoms
to significances? We go deep within our own hearts, in quiet meditation, and
listen to the Spirit.

I invite each of us to take a brief moment now to reflect on a current
situation or a person in our life that we would need to look beyond appearances
and into the heart and listen to what the response might be.

(Allow a few minutes of quiet)

Take some time this week to take that to prayer. Open my eyes, God,
help me to see!

..."Indeed ‘pastoral care’ implies there is a relationship between those involved, and in that relationship there is a ‘trust’. I think you would be very hard pressed to find any survivors or their families expressing anything other than their feelings of betrayal and demands for justice, which invariably intensify in failed and harrowing protracted judicial processes in the vast majority of cases.

I think the initiative by the Papal Advisory Council of Cardinals will need to consider ‘how badly have we [the church] messed up that relationship?’ The legal process does nothing to show there is anything but self-interest and self-preservation.

Those faced with causing scandal through perpetration or facilitation are thrown into survival mode. Their state of affairs triggers a ‘flight or fight response’ in order to survive what presents itself as a ruinous situation to the reputation and existence of those causing such scandal. Since the 1980’s the response was one of insurance and lawyers, hardly the expected response of professed ministers of the living God.

Scandal is the drawing of another into doing a wrong because of the gravity of an offence caused. Clerical child sexual abuse has clearly drawn hierarchical figures within the Catholic Church into responses that served the ‘rescue of reputation’ of particular dioceses or congregations rather than the ‘rescue of children’ sexually abused by clergy...."

On Monday, April 14, 2014, the Ecumenical Homeless Ministry Team from St. Andrew UCC and Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community filled 50 Easter bags with items such as body spray, combs, socks, devotional books for Sanctuary Sarasota administered by Vallerie Guillory from Trinity Without Borders. *Lyndel Spence, a PhD candidate and researcher, from the University of
Sydney in Australia joined us. She conducted interviews with some of our leaders including Pastor Phil. Lyndel is doing her PhD project on the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement and our communities.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

So we gather
this week to rememberthe presence of God acting through Jesus of
Nazareth.Today we remember the storyof Jesus' triumphal entry into
Jerusalem,told by Matthew to show Jesusas the fulfillment of the ancient
propheciesfor the coming of God's reign on earth.It's that reign we
celebrate today.It's that reign we continue to seek and to build.This
weekendwe listen to Matthew's account of Jesus' passion and death.It is
significant that, on the other 51 Sundays of the year,we hear stories of
Jesus' life and ministry--51 to 1--51 on his life and ministryas opposed
to 1 on his suffering and death.Those 51 other weeks of Gospelslay out
the reasons for Jesus' suffering and death:he spoke truth to power;he
ministered among and to the poor and downtrodden;he offended those few
Jewish leaderswho cooperated with their foreign oppressors;he called
ordinary people to take part in the kin-dom of God;he angered and frightened
the powerful Roman
occupiers._________________________________________Pope Francis, in a
homily two weeks ago,reflected on the situation Jesus found himself inas
a result of his teaching ministry.The Pope said that Jesus, with simplicity
and strength in God,made trouble for the corrupt leaders with the
people.And step by step, they ended up convincing themselvesthat they
had to kill Jesus.____________________________________Like Jesus, we are
called to life and ministry.To serve the poor.To minister among the
oppressed.To speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.Like Jesus,
we are called to stand firm in the face of opposition.Like Jesus, we will
sometimes sufferfor what we believe and what we do.Even so, let's
continue to follow Jesus' Way.The kin-dom of God is among us.Let us
remember.Let us rejoice.

"Mary Keldermans is recounting the story of the finding of the Christ child in the temple — the Gospel of Luke’s depiction in which Jesus is left behind following Passover in Jerusalem and found by Mary and Joseph three days later among the temple elders — when she remembers her own brush with a lost child.

“We had gone to a magic show at Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois Springfield) and we were going to Howard Johnson afterwards for ice cream,” she recalled. “On our way there, one of my sons yells out, ‘Clare (my 4-year-old daughter) isn’t here.’ I said, ‘What do you mean Clare isn’t here?’

“So I tore back to the campus, panicked, overwhelmed at the horror of what I’d done, and there she was, with two older gentlemen holding her by the hands. She’s crying. I’m crying. And I just said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ ”

What’s missing, added Keldermans, is that for so long, Roman Catholics have only heard the interpretation of Scriptures, including the story of the lost child, from male perspectives, mostly through homilies.

“I can look at that story,” said Kelderman, who has six children and five grandchildren, “and have a different experience. Mary was a Jewish mother who was worried sick about her son. I know what she felt like. I know what she felt like to have a teething child, to have teenagers.

Churches all over the world will be adorned in palm branches this Sunday commemorating the joyful entry of Jesus into Jerusalem seated on the back of a donkey. In our church as in many Roman Catholic and other churches, people will gather outside in a procession to the church carrying palms and singing Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest, as was done for the first time by the crowd welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem.

The Gospel of Matthew (21:1-11) will be read and we will see Jesus enacting the prophecy about the coming of Zion’s ruler in Zechariah 9:9-10. “Rejoice in heart and soul….Shout with gladness daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your ruler comes to you: victorious and triumphant, humble, riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”(TIB) The NAB translation of this verse read: “Shout for joy…See, your king shall come to you; a just savior he is, meek and riding on the foal of an ass”. The Peshitta (Near Eastern translation from Jesus’ Aramaic) reads “…he is righteous and a Savior, lowly and riding…upon a colt, the foal of an ass”. The fulfillment of this prophecy about the Messiah is why Jesus sent his disciples to get the colt he would ride on into Jerusalem. To ride on a donkey in that age was more a sign of humiliation than royalty, for only the poor rode on donkeys. Royalty rode on fine horses or in transport pulled by powerful steeds. So, here is Jesus the king of the poor and outcast, for he had loved them, healed them, taught them and won their hearts, now welcomed by them with great joy. They spread their cloaks on the ground before him and shouted “Hosanna” which means “Save” in Hebrew but is a song of praise. Matthew’s Gospel says “the whole city was stirred up” at his arrival.

The account of Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem is in all four Gospels. John’s Gospel (Ch 12) adds that the people recalled the raising of Lazarus and thronged around him. “Look, the whole world has gone after him! (12:19b). In Luke’s (Ch 19) account Jesus was asked by the Pharisees to quiet his disciples. He said that if they were quiet even the stones would cry out! This was a time of acclamation and joy, the universe itself was in accord. I think that the joyful shouts of acclamation filled Jesus’ heart and even for a short while he knew that despite what lied ahead, and he had already predicted that, he had accomplished his mission, the ordinary, the poor, the sick and the outcast along with his other disciples, men and women and children, knew who he was and would carry on his work. This deep knowledge and his always close Abba, Amma God (Papa, Mama) gave him the strength to face what was ahead of him.

And, then as he drew close to Jerusalem, Jesus wept for Jerusalem and the people as they did not accept the prophets before him, or him-“you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you”- and destruction not peace would come to them. The oppressors would win after all in Jerusalem and for this, he wept. Then, he entered the Temple and further enraged the authorities by throwing out the money changers and the sellers of animals, doves and others, for sacrifice. In essence, He set those birds and animals free and put the place where God was supposed to live back into God- perspective. God doesn’t want any form of animal or living sacrifice, God wants lives and hearts full of justice and love for everyone. This is to be a house of prayer! The ensuing parable of the tenants in the vineyard (Matt 21: 33-45) where the owner has to send his son because the others collecting the debt were killed and the son is also killed but the vineyard is given to other tenants, tells us what will happen next.

On Palm Sunday I like to savor the victory with Jesus. Jesus joy was short lived because his work was not done-he kept on going with his actions and his teaching. I think the strength of the Heartfelt Hosannas propelled him on. I also think that it may well have been a different crowd that shouted “crucify him” while his loyal group of lowly folks, lowly like him, were overwhelmed by the greater powerful interests of the religious establishment and the Roman Oppressors.

The Roman Catholic Liturgy really rushes Jesus’ moments of victory as once the palms are placed down, the entire Passion is read for the Gospel. Yes, Jesus will be killed in a brutal and slow tortuous way. But even there he will make a statement of victory. When we rely on the English translations from the Greek alone we may miss this shout of victory from the Cross. In Matthew 27:46 we have Jesus saying the Aramaic words “Eli, Eli, L’mana Sabachtani.” In English that is translated “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It is phrased as a question and is taken to mean the abandonment of God. But Aramaic scholar Rocco Errico (Let There Be Light, pp. 12-13) points out, it can also be understood as a declaration: “O God! O God To what (a purpose) You have kept me!” or “O Sustainer, O Sustainer! To what a purpose you have left me.” “Left” does not mean abandoned but it means spared to fulfill an end or destiny”. God never forsook or abandoned Jesus, and God will never forsake us. It is a cry of “I have accomplished it” (Like the “it is finished” in other accounts). The Lamsa version of the Aramaic translates, “for this was my destiny!” In other words, in addition to the words of forgiveness and inclusion (for the thief) from the Cross we have a sense of completion of Jesus’ work -only to be topped by the resurrection! And that indeed is the conclusion of Holy week-rising from the dead!

Amen to the Victory of Palm Sunday and the Victory of the Cross-God is with us until the end, and will raise us up! Amen!!!

This past weekend was beautiful — sunny (finally!), with bright flowers starting to pop out everywhere and little birds singing. Winter seems to have finally left, at least for a little while. A friend of mine, said to me, “You must be busy getting ready for Easter. So what’s the thing to say — do you tell people “Happy Holy Week?’”

“Well,” I said. “You could say ‘Happy Easter,’ when it’s actually Easter day, or ‘Christ is Risen!’. But until then it’s kind of confusing: there’s a lot of different stuff going on in Holy Week.”

Think about it. During Holy Week, we wave palms in the air and hail Jesus as king, the long-awaited messiah who’s going to save us, then we change our minds and scream that the Romans should crucify him; we share a loving last supper with Jesus and he washes our feet, then we sneak out after dinner and betray him. Jesus begs us to stay with him, we promise we will, then we don’t. We abandon him, he’s arrested and beaten; he forgives us, then we run away. Then Jesus is killed; we lay him in the tomb and weep; we go back for him, then he’s gone, then he’s back, and then — wait! — he’s not dead at all.

We call this week before Easter Sunday ‘Holy Week’ because it was originally the time of the Feast of Passover when the Jews were saved in Egypt, and because of the miraculous things that Jesus did in the last week of His Life.

We witness to Christ in song and story throughout Holy Week.

On Palm Sunday we process with our palms and incense and songs. We celebrate Jesus triumphantly riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Men, women and children lined the streets yelling ‘hosanna’ and waving palm branches. They were greeting the messiah who they believed had come to save them.

Holy Monday we remember Jesus’ throwing all the money changers and vendors out of the Temple. The Temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship for the Jews and they were required to present money and animals for sacrifice to the priests when they visited. Animal vendors, and money changers had set up booths in the court. People believed that God actually lived in ‘Most Holy of Holy Places’ the inner sanctum of the Temple. This desecration angered Jesus so much that he turned over the tables of the money changers and ran all the animal vendors out.

On Holy Tuesday, Jesus spent most of the day on the Mount Of Olives, where he preached what we now know as the’ Sermon on The Mount’, telling crowds of people what the Kingdom would be like and how we could join Him.

On Spy Wednesday we remember Judas Iscariot, a zealot, who thought he was doing the right thing by agreeing to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He thought that if Jesus was jailed, the people would rise up and overthrow the Romans.

On Maundy Thursday, Jesus shared a common meal with his disciples – this has become the celebration we call Eucharist or Communion. Many churches strip their altars and cover any icons and statues on Maundy Thursday in preparation for the mourning of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday. There will be no celebration of Communion until the resurrection.

Many other churches hold feet washings, washing each other’s feet, to commemorate that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Jesus reminds us that we are to love each other as he loved us.

After the meal, Jesus went to the Garden at Gethsemane to pray. He asks the disciples to stay and pray with him, but they all fall asleep. Jesus is left to pray for strength for what is to come by himself, abandoned by his own disciples.

Judas then identified Jesus for the Roman guards with a kiss and He was taken away by the soldiers.

We don’t know why this Friday got the name of ‘Good Friday’ - it certainly was not a fun day. Jesus was brought before Pilate, the Roman governor, and sentenced to death. He was then forced to walk to the Hill of Golgotha, carrying the cross on which he will be crucified. There is a commemoration of this walk called the ‘Stations of the Cross’ where participants remember each of the steps to the crucifixion. Here at Trinity, we do a Stations of the Cross around the Statehouse, interweaving Jesus’ trials with social justice issues.

It is generally accepted that Jesus was nailed to the cross around noon on Good Friday and died after three hours. Many churches, including Trinity, hold a vigil with readings and music during this three hour period. The Bible says that when Jesus died, the world turned black, which scientists think was a solar eclipse in the middle of the day.

Jesus’ body is taken down from the cross and buried in an unused tomb.

Holy Saturday ends the season of Lent for Easter Sunday will be a celebration of new life. Holy Saturday is a day of waiting for the resurrection on Easter Sunday. Some churches hold a twilight or midnight vigil waiting for the resurrection; others have people praying throughout the night, waiting for Easter Sunday.

The word ‘Easter’ comes from the German ‘ostern’, meaning the direction from which the sun rises, celebrating the spring sun, when all things return to life again.

Some churches, if they do not do an Easter Vigil, hold a sunrise service to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus as the sun comes up. This is a day of great celebration with banners and special music and great feasting. We have left the penitential season of Lent and are reveling in the fact that with the death and resurrection of Jesus, we all have new and eternal life. All our sins have been forgiven with His death and have been promised a place in Heaven for eternity.

So this Holy Week, think about each of the days and what preparation you can make to be ready for the festive celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, was we approach the week of the trials of your Son, let us remember our own shortcomings and vow to cleanse ourselves of those things that keep us from you. By raising Christ, your Son, you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let our celebration raise us up and renew our lives by the Spirit that is within us. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.